Case Number 04357

Tokyo Godfathers

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All Rise...

Judge Joel Pearce once found a baby in a dumpster, but it was plastic and smelled like spoiled goat milk.

The Charge

Meet the ultimate dysfunctional family.

Opening Statement

Tokyo Godfathers is a difficult movie to describe, because it is
always interesting, often hilarious, usually thought provoking, sometimes
touching, and occasionally downright strange. This is director Satoshi Kon's
third feature film, and while it does not have the jarring impact of Perfect Blue or the cultural significance of
Millennium Actress, it is a fun ride of a movie that leaves you with
things to think about afterward.

Facts of the Case

The film opens with an introduction to three homeless people living in Tokyo
who together have formed something of a family. This "family" started
with Gin, an alcoholic ex-bicycle racer, and Hana, a cross-dressing gay man who
cares more for Gin than he would ever admit. Miyuki, a teenage runaway who never
wants to go home, has recently joined the two.

This oddly matched trio doesn't get along very well, but when they find an
abandoned child (whom they name Kiyoko) in a garbage heap around Christmas, all
three are forced to deal with their own pasts as they decide what to do with the
child. Hana sees the child as a gift from God, a chance to fully play the role
of a woman and mother. The others quite reasonably realize that they are
homeless, though, and convince Hana that the best thing to do would be to track
down the child's parents using a few items discovered with the baby, and find
out why they would abandon it this way.

The journey is complicated by a series of bizarre encounters and freak
occurrences that force our unlikely heroes to come to grips with the problems in
their own lives.

The Evidence

I might as well just say it up front. I really like Tokyo Godfathers a
lot. Satoshi Kon has crammed more into this film's 90-minute running time than I
have seen in much longer films, but each element is perfectly balanced and
offset by other things that are going on at the same time. Like Kon's other
films, there are developments in Tokyo Godfathers that twist your head
around, but they all come together and make sense in the end, without ever
feeling contrived.

All three of the "godfathers" are richly developed characters. Gin
(voice by Toru Emori) appears at first to be a gruff old bum, but as things
about his past are uncovered, each new discovery cuts deeper into the mistakes
in his own past. For Gin, the search for Kiyoko's parents is one of redemption
and restitution. Gin fits many of the stereotypes of the homeless person, but as
the film progresses, it makes sense that he has chosen his life. When he helps
an old drunk who is on his deathbed, Gin sees his own future in the pathetic old
man, and the result is chilling.

Hana (voice by Yoshiaki Umegaki) is so well written and performed that I
find myself thinking of him as a woman. This is odd, because Hana does not even
try to disguise his voice and doesn't look particularly feminine. This dichotomy
makes his character very funny, but also quite sad. Whole movies have tried to
deal with men who feel they were meant to be women, and Tokyo Godfathers
does about as capably as I have ever seen. Hana also faces personal problems and
memories when they find Kiyoko. He had been an orphan as well, and he does not
want to see Kiyoko living the life that he had. Hana also wishes that he could
be a mother, and sees this baby as a chance to fill that role, if only for a
little while.

Miyuki (voice by Aya Okamoto) is an interesting character as well. She has
run away from her own family, but the one that she finds with Hana and Gin isn't
much different. She also has secrets and regrets from her past, and the search
for Kiyoko's parents are a chance for her to redeem herself as well.

The banter between these three characters is fast and funny, but it has a
sharp edge to it that cements their bond as a family. Nobody knows what will
hurt another quite like a family member, and as a result, the insults that the
trio tosses back and forth are as sad as they are funny. The voice work of each
character is fantastic, highly animated without being obnoxious or shrill.

The problems of all three characters and their relationships with each other
are resolved during the quest to find Kiyoko's birth parents. This mystery and
the strange coincidences that follow this baby everywhere it goes joins all of
these stories together. The mystery is compelling, but is balanced perfectly
with the focus on the characters. The miracles and strange coincidences would
seem bizarre were it not for the way this mystery is handled. By the end, it
almost seems like a mystical quest, and it is funny and exciting and touching
and deep…all at the same time.

The combination of all these elements makes Tokyo Godfathers a great
holiday movie. With Christmas being a time to focus on family, and the New Year
an opportunity to reflect on the past and get a new start on the future, this
film could nearly be considered the It's a Wonderful Life of
animated feature films. Before you rush out and rent it for your whole family,
though, be aware that it's a good deal edgier than most classic Christmas
movies. It also doesn't feel the need to hit you over the head with the fact
that it's Christmas every two minutes like North American holiday films often
do.

The animation is top-notch. The characters are all perfect representations
of their personalities, and they are wonderfully detailed and stylized, with
some of the best and most entertaining facial expressions I have ever seen. The
backgrounds are also excellent, demonstrating a lot of detail and variety.

The technical quality of the disc treats Tokyo Godfathers the way it
deserves. The 1.85:1 anamorphic video transfer has remarkable detail, with
accurate colors and a pretty good black level considering it is hand-drawn
animation. There is some grain, but none of the haloing or edge enhancement that
is so common on digital transfers of animated films.

The sound quality on the disc is even better. The dialogue comes through
perfectly on the Japanese 5.1 surround track, and the film makes great use of
the surrounds. It's a highly active track, without ever becoming overpowering.
The soundtrack is great too, a slick jazzy score that perfectly captures the
fast yet laid back pace of the movie.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Unfortunately, the disc is pretty light on extras. Considering it's so soon
after Tokyo Godfathers was first released, and we have it on a DVD with a
good transfer in its original language, I am not going to complain too much.

The featurette starts out with the usual corporate fluff (except in
Japanese), then wastes a number of great opportunities to be an interesting look
at the making of the film. Most of the running time consists of two interviews
with Satoshi Kon, one by voice actress Aya Okamoto, the other by an unnamed man.
Unfortunately, instead of discussions about the film, they decide to talk about
how Satoshi Kon spends his Christmases, and about how it felt to be on
set…more focused on the interviewers than Kon or Tokyo Godfathers.
When Kon does speak, he seems very humble and coherent, and I would have loved
to hear more from him about the film.

The only other extras are a smattering of trailers for other anime titles
from Columbia.

Closing Statement

If you are a fan of animation, do not rest until you have seen this awesome
film. If you aren't a fan of animation, watch it anyway. In the featurette,
Satoshi Kon talks about the way anime has come to be equated with "cute
girls, robots, and explosions." His own films challenge that notion. Kon
uses animation as a tool to make great movies that deserve to be enjoyed by as
wide an audience as possible.

The Verdict

Not guilty. Columbia should have been a little more liberal with the extras,
but the excellent transfer more than makes up for it.